One day in the not-too-distant future, we expect James Franco to speedily move from one film project to another, then explode in a puff of smoke like a vintage Hanna Barbera character. Until then, he'll keep ginning up new movies. The most recent of these is a trio of features based on his own short-story collection “Palo Alto” which he'll produce. Franco has posted a video to the site Indiegogo in the hope of raising funds for it (you can watch it here ). PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times Crowd-funding a movie isn't easy.

On a recent afternoon at a Burbank production studio, the members of Big Time Rush were shooting a music video for their song "24/Seven," a characteristically chipper ode to living every day like a holiday. After the shoot the Nickelodeon-bred boy band was headed to Orlando, Fla., where it had a performance scheduled at the Universal Studios theme park, and then onto an appearance at the Mall of America near Minneapolis. Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena and Logan Henderson - professional actors cast, Monkees style, in a kids' television series depicting the adventures of a fresh-faced pop group - were up for the action to come.

Soon enough Dwight Howard will have to make one of the biggest decisions of his career. Seemingly everyone has voiced an opinion about where and what Howard will do when he hits free agency. Rarely has Howard himself gone on record. "It's OK. People are going to talk, and everybody is going to have an opinion on any type of situation," Howard said in a phone interview with The Times. "I totally understand that. " However, before the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks and other franchises make their pitches, Howard was far more eager to talk about catching a mackinaw.

For those wondering which former “SNL” characters Kristen Wiig would resurrect in her return to the show as host, the answer is “almost all of them.” Fans of Shanna may have been kicking the ground in disappointment, but terrible singers Garth and Kat , the manically enthusiastic Target Lady , the Californians (which endured for about seven epic minutes and included an appearance from Maya Rudolph, who inexplicably made...

A hand-drawn, black-and-white Mickey Mouse animated short film will debut June 11 at the Annecy Animation Festival in Annecy, France, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced Tuesday. The vintage-feeling short, which is called "Get a Horse," features the voice of Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse. The Burbank studio released a logline describing the short as "never before seen," but a studio spokeswoman, when asked if the short is newly made, refused to comment. PHOTOS: Hollywood backlot moments "Get a Horse," the release said, "follows Mickey, his favorite gal pal Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow as they delight in a musical wagon ride -- until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road.

Another influential programmer at Nickelodeon -- Margie Cohn -- is leaving the children's network as the operation struggles to remain relevant with pint-sized viewers who are watching content on different platforms. Nickelodeon said Monday that Cohn, president of content development, as well as Alison Dexter, the Los Angeles-based executive vice president of production, were exiting the network immediately. The shuffles come at a sensitive time for Nickelodeon, which recently made its sales pitch to advertisers looking to buy commercial time for the upcoming season.

Live from Hollywood: It's the 16 th season of “Dancing With the Stars!” In the grand ballroom tradition we've got our old favorites, some new pros and stars of varying wattages (as Tom said, “We get most of our cast when their judgment's impaired”) lighting up the glitterverse in all their fringed glory. The first performance program had each of the twelve couples dancing either the fox trot, the cha cha, or a newly introduced contemporary routine. It was also a non-elimination round, so each couple will have another chance to impress the judges and the viewers before the first elimination occurs next week.

Quvenzhané Wallis is excited to be an Oscar nominee, primarily because it gives her the chance to meet some movie actors. Yet, when pressed, the 9-year-old star of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" says it's the stars of her favorite television shows "Jessie" and "Austin & Ally" that are most appealing to her. "I want to meet everybody on Disney Channel and Disney XD that are alive," she said in a phone interview Friday. Wallis and "Beasts" had been critical favorites since last year's Sundance Film Festival.